Tomorrow Is Not Far Away
by Meg-Servo
Summary: Clarice has been Silver's little girl ever since she was three. What kind of adventure will be waiting for her when she lands on the expedition to the loot of a thousand worlds?
1. Three Years of Age

On a cold winter's night in the Red Dragon Inn, a young couple was closing for the night. The elder woman with bright red hair was sweeping the floor and the elder man with darkish features was counting the money. He eyed down at the floor to see a darling litle girl with bright curly red hair..just like her mothers...playing with paper dolls. The little girl aware of her father looking, looked up and smiled warmly at him. She then got up and walked to her father and handed him the blonde haired paper doll. When he took it she giggled softly. He then said, "Who's daddy's favorite girl?" he then lifted her shirt and blew rasberries on her stomach and she laughed out loud.   
With her laughing someone stomped on the floor and screamed, "KEEP IT DOWN!!!". The mother looked up and said, "That crazy loon. He still needs to pay up for crying out loud!" The man said while putting the little girl down, "Shall I go talk to him?". The mother folded her arms and said, "Nah, I'm not in the mood to deal with him right now. And besides...he doesn't want anybody to know he's here." Suddenly there was a knock on the door.   
"We're closed!" The mother yelled   
But the sounds from outside proved there was more than just one "customer". The little girl didn't notice the sounds from outside or the knocks on the door. She was coloring her paper dolls and was in deep thought.   
Suddenly the doors burst open and a band of pirates ran in hollering and destroying everything in their path. But still the little girl was oblivious to it all. All she could hear was the mumbling of words coming from her parents, and then a loud scream, coming from her mother as she fell. But she did not look up. Suddenly there was a groan coming from the father as he fell down as well. Still she did not look up.   
The little girl was humming to herself when suddenly she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around and cocked an eyebrow at the big man. Staring at her with one large brown eye and another red lit eye. The hand he tapped her with was no ordinary hand, it was a robotic hand, then a robotic arm all the way up to a robotic shoulder. She looked down to see he still had both his feet. She then looked back up. The big man with a huge nose was trying to give her the meanest look he could possibly give to any child that would make them cry, but then he gasped. He stared down at the big blue eyes and the short red curly hair. He said, "Wow, you look like my mother when she was alive and a child." This brought back a lot of memories for him. Memories of before he was kicked out of the house before his mother died. Many painful memories yes. But he wouldn't show it. He refused to. The girl still looked up at him. But instead of crying at the big man, she smiled a two front teeth smile and lifted up a brunette haired paper doll. He then cocked an eyebrow at her and looked to his left, then to his right. He then took the paper doll and stared down at her. He said, "Thank you...I guess." She then clapped her hands and laughed loudly. He couldn't help but chuckle. Suddenly the little girl stood up and hugged the pirate. He said, "Wait.." But she hugged him tighter. He then gently hugged her back with his robotic arm. He said, "I don't think we should kill a cute lass like you." When he picked her up, some of his crew came down and said, "No sign of him sir. He must have escaped through the window!" Silver closed his eyes and under his breath said, "...damn."   
Suddenly the little girl grabbed his cheeks and tilted his face upwards. He said, "Well, what are we going to do with you?" She stared at him blankly. She then said, "Momma.....papa.." He frowned, realizing what he had done. He said, "Oh no.." Remembering how he felt when he was young and lonely when he lost his parents on the same day. Not to death, but because he was a rebellious lad and wasn't loved. "Do you have a name little one?" the man asked her.   
She stared at him blankly. He said, "Ah, we'll come up with one soon enough. I'm John Silver. You can call me whatever you want" She then said, "Silvery!"   
One of his men spoke up, "Wait wait WAIT boss. You're not telling me that we're going to be taking CARE of this child. Are we?"   
Silver stared at his crew member and said, "Well, we have no choice. Besides, what can SHE do to harm us?" He then started walking out the door with her, when suddenly she started bawling. Silver said, "Uh oh, what's wrong?" She then hinted she wanted down. When she got down she started running up the stairs. Silver soon followed close behind her. She then went in her bed and got out a doll. A plushed doll with red yarn hair, blue buttons for eyes, a red polka dotted dress, and a smile marked by a marker nonetheless. He said, "Well, who's this?" But she didn't say anything. He said, "Cat got your tongue?" But then she started meowing and crawling on the floor.   
He laughed out loud and said, "Can I call you Miss Kitty then?" She then frowned and said, "No." He said, "All right, what can I call you?"   
"Nothing"   
"Can I name you after my mom?"   
"No!"   
"Come on...I think you'll like the name. It's Clarice."   
She then smiled and said, "Clarice?" And he nodded, but while nodding flipped his hat off. She then picked it up and put it on..but it was too big for her, but that didn't matter. She then started hopping up and down at him, wanting him to pick her up again. Silver then picked her up and said, "Let's go, Clarice." And she yelled, "Clarice!"   
He then walked down the steps. Another crew member spoke up.   
"Silver, you're too good hearted to kill a child. What is up with that?"   
Silver shrugged and said, "No reason. Now get out of my way!"   
When he lead the way, Clarice looked at the men and said, "Get outta WAY!" and stuck her tongue out at them. Silver chuckled. He said, "I barely know you, but I think you have the makings of being a pirate." She then smiled and said, "Silvery gold." He then sighed happily and walked on the ship with her and her dolly.   
Though he was feeling the guilt of killing her parents for something that escaped, he felt he owed this young girl who looked only two years of age a role model. Hard as it may seem that this is the man most everyone bewared to look out for.   
The years passed. This young girl was surprisingly with John Silver through everything. At times they fought and they annoyed each other. But who could blame Clarice. Not having an ounce of memory of what happened when she was only three years of age and only living around rugged men and tough women. The only person she looked up to was just John Silver. Everyone else was scary in her eyes, but she would be the last to admit it. One crew member never did like Clarice. He was a man named Hans. He'd always threaten her behind Silver's back. But one incident would scar her for life.... 


	2. Losing a Limb

When Clarice was eight years old, with flowy red hair down to her waist, she annoyed a certain gentlemen pirate named Hans Conlon. Blowing rasberries at him and distracting him when meetings happened. He went to Silver one day and made a deal with him. If she distracted him anymore..he could cut her hair off using his claws. Needless to say that has happened..but when she started leaving him alone when she was thirteen, he still kept doing it for his own self pleasure.   
"You know Silver," a short haired 15 year old Clarice said, "You never told me how you lost your arm and eye..." Silver smiled. He replied, "Darling, you lose a couple of things chasing a dream." She smiled and said, "The treasure right?" He then grinned wickedly. "What else for?" was his reply.   
Clarice was now fifteen. Her hair was still cut short by Hans every so often so it made her look manly, but she didn't care. She knew that women were bad luck to pirates and if she ever ran into one she could fake a deep voice and pretend to be like one of them. She was always happy to be with her father figure Silver. He practically raised her of course. But they didn't fight as much as they used to. Now that she was older and growing more mature, Silver liked her more and more. Silver wasn't one of those men who liked little kids afterall, but he had to admit, she was a darling little girl.   
One thing worried him though. Hans. He knew that he cut Clarice's hair once a month because of the deal he made, but everytime when she was a child, Clarice would come out crying. But lately she held strong. Lately she refused to show anyone she was crying. But Silver could sense something was wrong. One day he happened to walk into her when she got out. He replied, "Well hey lass! How are ye?" She tried to force a smile..but couldn't. She just walked on. Silver held her shoulder. He said, "What did Hans do!?" But she moved his hand off and ran to her quarters.   
Silver breathed and ran to Hans' quarters. He said, "What did you do to her!?" Hans stood up. He smiled cruely and said, "I did what that little brat deserves." Silver slammed the door behind him which made Hans jump. Silver said, "Now you hear me Hans. I don't want you ever to hurt Clarice." Hans chuckled and asked, "Is that a threat?" This made Silver's blood boil. Hans said, "You know, ever since you brought that red head here, you've grown well...soft." Silver then ran to him and held him up by his neck. Hans said, "Tut tut softie Silver." Hans then brought his switch bladed tail to Silver's neck. He replied, "Are you afraid of shedding blood around Clarice? That's not LIKE you." Silver started choking Hans then. Hans gasped for air, but then clumsily cut a deep gash in Silver's leg. Silver let go and grabbed his leg. He stared at Hans and said, "You son of a.." Then Silver grabbed Hans tail and crushed the blade with his cyborg hand. Hans shrieked in pain. Then Silver got up and limped to the door. Hans held his tail as it bled. Hans said menace-like, "You! YOU and that little BRAT are going to pay for this!" Silver then replied, "You'll have to kill me first if you want to lay a hand on her." He then slammed the door behind him. Hans then grinned mencingly and started laughing. He asked himself,   
"Over your dead body eh?"   
"There there Silver. This might hurt a little." Clarice said. She lifted up his pant leg to reveal the gash. She brushed her short hair back as she reached for a hot piece of cloth. She said, "You know, you should change your pants. It looks like..oh. Wait it's only funny if you're a woman." She then chuckled to herself. Silver rose an eyebrow. She then started pressing the hot moist cloth against the gash. Silver held his breath. She smiled and said, "Oh come on. You're a pirate for chrissake. Suck it up!" He then chuckled and said, "Well you're becoming a pirate woman yourself you know." She smiled and asked, "But aren't women bad luck to pirates?" Silver then said, "No, not at all. Not unless you're raised by one." She she smiled and took out a thread and needle. He bulged his eyes and said, "What do you think you'll be doing with those!?" She said, "Pish posh Silver. It'll only take but a minute. Just hold your breath you big wuss." She then playfully punched his shoulder. He smiled and said, "All right lass. I take it you've done this before?"   
She smiled coyly and said, "Only to my voodoo dolls." She then stuck the needle in his skin and he screamed a scream that all his crew members heard that made them shake! That night, Clarice decided to pick up a few supplies so she could make dinner. It was raining that night and she held her cloak around her face. Unbeknowest to her was that someone was following her. But she paid no attention to it.   
As soon as she got the bread, she smiled and told the seller to have a good night. She covered the bread with a cloth and walked back to the ship. By the time she was at the foot of the ship she stood still. She could feel someone was behind her. A flash of lightning flashed as she turned around to see a huge lizard like man behind her. She gasped and dropped her bread. She then slipped and fell to the ground. Hans chuckled and said, "This is way too easy." Clarice reached inside her cloak, grabbed her sword and clutched it in front of her. She said, "What do you want from me? You already cut my hair...do you want to tell me more crude things to make me upset?" Hans smiled and replied, "No, that won't make you experience any physical pain." She bulged her eyes and got up. She still clutched to her sword in fright.   
But when she blinked once, he was gone!   
"Please, I didn't do anything to hurt you!" Hans then appeared behind her and slapped the sword out of her hand with his bladed tail. She gasped seeing his tail bent and mis-shaped. She asked, almost dry mouthed, "What happened Hans?" He then picked her up and held her by the neck with his large claws. She tried to pull them away but he kept gripping tighter and tighter. She didn't have the breath to scream. "Do you wanna know why? It's because of you! I should have killed you, just like I killed your OWN parents." She hanged there still. She shifted her eyes towards him in a questionable expression. "Any last words?" Hans asked.   
Suddenly a laser beam was shot and Hans let go of Clarice. Silver was on top of the ship and looked down at them both. Hans looked up and screamed, "YOU WANT SOME OF THIS YOU OLD CYBORG!?" He then charged after him with his claws wide open. But Clarice was too quick for him. She jumped on top of him and tried to hold him back from hurting Silver, but with no luck. Hans immedietly grabbed her left arm so tight it ripped apart, flung her away, and knocked her un-concious. Silver's anger turned to sadness. Silver then turned his cyborg arm into a sword and said, "I told you that you will never hurt her!" Then Hans smiled coyly. "Over your dead body though." Hans then aimed for his neck, but tripped on his own two feet and landed on top of Silver.   
Silver's sword was at Hans' neck   
Hans' claws were on Silver's legs.   
Both men were breathless. Hans replied, "Do you want to die Silver?" But Silver's anger rose. He tempted to cut Hans in the throat but failed, when Hans sliced Silver's leg off. Silver screamed and held his leg. Hans laughed a menacing laugh. "You're not so tough now with one leg now are ya!?" He then tempted to stab his tail in Silver's back, but Silver quickly took his sword, cut off his tail, then sliced at his throat, killing Hans instantly. Silver, making sure Hans was dead, plunged his sword in Hans' chest.   
Clarice finally woke up with the rain beating down her face. She noticed the blood all around her. She slowly sat up and suddenly cursed in pain. She held her arm, but felt nothing. She gasped as she looked to her side to see nothing but blood there. She looked around frantically for her arm. She couldn't believe it! When she finally found her arm a few feet away from her, she immedietly started crying. Silver heard her and crawled to her. He was too afraid to touch her though, or give her sympathy. All he did was take his jacket off and wrap it around Clarice. He said slowly, "Come on lass, you'll get used to it in time like I have." She still sat there in front of her arm crying. She replied, "Is that all you have to say..after what...what happened tonight?" Silver sighed. She then got up and said, "Come now, put your arm around me, I'll help you to your room."   
Silver was surprised at her reaction. But soon he put his arm around her and said, "Come on lass, I'll find ol' Thomas to put a hunk of hardware on that arm of yours." She sighed and said, "All right." She then helped him to the ship, leaving a trail of blood behind them.   
As Clarice helped Silver, she noticed a face watching all of this happen. She wanted so much to kill the bastard for not helping them. But what could she do? The young man, indeed, spotted all that had happened. A pre-teen. He wanted so much to help the pirates, but he didn't want to risk his life doing so. He knew what pirates could do to him. And with that, he scurried off back to a nearby inn. 


	3. The Chase of Billy Bones

After the incident with Hans Conlon, Clarice had a choice in choosing to have no arm, or having a cyborg arm like Silver. Of course she chose the cyborg arm. It took a lot of getting used to, but she handled it for the next year.   
  
That year though, Silver had to get used to having a cyborg leg. He actually liked it. It was run on an air pump which he didn't mind at all.  
  
Soon though, there was a ship chase. Silver's crew versus Billy Bones. They had been chasing Billy for an hour's worth, but soon ran out of gas on Silver's ship. Silver watched with his cyborg eye where Billy was going.   
  
"HURRY AND FILL ER UP!" as he gazed closer to Billy's ship. "BILLY'S HEADED TO MONTRESSOR!" Clarice gasped.  
  
"Isn't that where Hans was.."  
  
Silver nodded.  
  
As soon as they were filled up..they landed on the planet and saw that Billy's ship landed by a near by inn. The Benbow Inn to be exact. Silver turned his cyborg arm into a gun and yelled, "ONWARD MEN!"   
  
Clarice though, stayed on the ship to keep watch. She wasn't into all the gory fights, and seeing a poor old turtle like Billy to be killed would be too much for her.  
  
She stayed on top of the deck and looked at the road. Soon a carriage rode by very fast and Clarice could make out one familiar face. That boy..the boy who didn't get help when Hans was trying to kill Silver and she. She then noticed a woman looking back at the Benbow Inn. Clarice turned around to see it had been set on fire. Clarice looked back at the woman, wanting to tell her how sorry she was that Silver and his crew did this..all to get a damn map.  
  
"They better have the map." she said to herself.   
  
As Silver walked back on board, he looked up at Clarice.   
  
"What's wrong lass?"  
  
"Did you get the map?"  
  
Silver rubbed the back of his neck. "No...no."  
  
"DAMNIT SILVER! CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!? AND FOR NOTHING!" she then shoved him and went below deck, refusing to talk to him and only coming up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  
  
A few weeks passed. Silver knocked on Clarice's door lightly. "Clar..darling?"  
  
"What?" she said in a grudge voice.  
  
"I know something that will make you very happy doll face!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're going on an expedition on a new boat!"  
  
"Well la-dee-frikkin-da Silver! Let me guess..we're going to plan a mutiny on this ship because of a stupid map!?"  
  
Silver chuckled nervously. "Well, almost. The captain has the map, and this dog alien hired us..my crew, you, and I, I mean."  
  
Clarice perked her ears and jumped from her bed. "Go on.."  
  
"Well, let's just say we're going to the loot of a thousand worlds, lass!"  
  
"I can't believe it!" Clarice said happily as she opened the door. "You actually got us..ALL of us..a job on an expedition to Treasure Planet!?"   
  
"Of course lass!" he said as he hugged her.  
  
"This is so exciting! I..I...when are we leaving?"  
  
"In the morning dearie."  
  
"Oh, OH! I SHOULD PACK!" she said as she grabbed her bag and threw clothes in there. Sniffing each one, making a different expression on each shirt and pants.  
  
"And guess what YOU get to do." Silver said.  
  
"What? WHAT??" she said as she tied up the bag.  
  
"You get to be the.. 'cabin girl.'"  
  
She laughed. "I can't wait Silver! This is Treasure Planet! For as long as I can remember you would tell me stories of the loot of a thousand worlds. This is your DREAM Silver!"   
  
Silver laughed again, "You think I didn't know that!?" He then scooped Clarice in his arms and hugged her.   
  
The other crew were staring at them in a disgusting way. Scroop spit on the ground, "That girls hassss been nothing but trouble to ussss." Turnbuckle eyed Scroop. "No she hasn't. You just don't like women in the crew." Scroop hissed. "Ever ssssince Birdbrain Mary came...women have been ruining our livessss..and then Ssssilver picksssss up thisssss Claricccce.." Turnbuckle then slapped him upside the head. "Would you shut up about Clarice? She's not that bad of a person." Scroop turned to Turnbuckle. "Me thinkssss you've got a sssssoft ssssspot for the red head."   
Turnbuckle took a deep breath and laughed nervously, then coughed.   
  
"Ever since Hans was murdered..you've held a grudge with Long John."  
  
"HE WASSSS RESSSPONSSSIBLE FOR HANSSS DEATH!! AND IT WASSSSS CLARICCCCE'S FAULT"   
  
Turnbuckle laughed nervously again and backed away, "Look! Why don't you just chill for a moment!?"   
  
Scroop then slapped Turnbuckle across the room just as Silver walked in. "What be going on here, Scroop?!"   
  
Scroop laughed. "What makessss you think ssssomething bad happened, Ssssilver?"   
  
"Clarice could tell. We both heard someone being thrown across the room."   
  
Scroop chuckled and walked away. Silver then grabbed Scroops arm and crushed it almost, which made Scroop scream out!  
  
Clarice chuckled a bit hearing Scroop scream. She didn't much care for the damn spider psycho. Just then Morph flew into Clarice's room. She smiled and nuzzled the little pink blob. "How are you Morphie?" she asked.   
  
Morph then morphed into a thumbs up.  
  
"Aww, that's great!" she then started digging in her pockets. "I have a special surprise for you!"  
  
"Special surprise! Special surprise!" Morph mimicked.  
  
She pulled out a cookie. "It's your favorite Morphie. It's peanut butter!" She then threw the cookie at him, which luckily, he caught and started gnawing on it.  
  
"Oh Morphie. This is going to be a great expedition. I have a good feeling about this." 


	4. The RLS Legacy

As soon as morning came, the rooster crowed. This woke up Clarice who decided to wake up the rest of the crew. She was overly excited about going on an expedition to the loot of a thousand worlds..Treasure Planet. This was far more exciting then any old dumb adventure. This was the expedition to blow off other expeditions!  
  
Silver had told everyone to go on their own time, so they wouldn't be going on the ship all at the same time. He smoked his little pipe as he walked over to Clarice saying, "And you, miss, will be coming with me."   
  
Soon, Silver and Clarice walked together on the ship. Soon, a rock man came in front of the two.   
  
"Names please."  
  
"John Silver."  
  
"Clarice...er....S-S-Silver."  
  
Silver then chuckled and thought to himself, "She's never addressed herself with my last name."   
  
Mr. Arrow looked down at the two. "All right mister Silver. You're the ship's cook, so down to the kitchen you go. As for you Clarice, you can start my mopping up the deck so the captain will have a clean inspection."  
  
"You aren't the captain?"  
  
"From now on...Clarice..you will address me as Mr. Arrow or sir, is that understood?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"And no, I am not the captain. She hasn't--"  
"She, sir?"  
  
"YES! She...Captain Amelia is her name. The finest captain this port has ever seen."  
  
"She sounds nice, sir."   
"You'll address her as Captain, Captain Amelia, or Ma'am."   
  
"Yes, sir!"  
  
"Anyway, Clarice, she isn't here yet."  
  
"So let me get to mopping sir, and I'll show her how this ship will be the cleanest damn ship she's ever seen!"  
  
"Don't use swear words."   
"Yes sir."   
  
"Go mop, young lady."  
  
"Better done, than said, Mr. Arrow!" Clarice then saluted and walked off, but then turned around. "Where are the mop and bucket, sir?"  
  
Mr. Arrow sighed and said, "Check in the galleys."  
  
As soon as she got the mop and bucket, she saw a feline alien walk up to the ship. She set her hat aside and eyed the rock man. "Mr. Arrow, it's wonderful to see you again. How are the grandchildren?"   
  
"Fine, just fine captain."  
  
Clarice rose an eyebrow, "THAT'S the captain?" she thought to her self.  
  
Amelia noticed her watching her and asked, "Mr. Arrow, who is that young woman over there spying on our conversation?"  
  
"That would be Clarice Silver, captain."  
  
She then started walking over to Clarice and smiled. "Well, hello there. I'm Captain Amelia, and you've met my first mate. I see you're mopping here. Jolly good."   
  
Clarice looked down at Amelia's legs.  
  
"How did you fit in those boots?"  
  
"Ahem"  
  
"Oh, da--dangit. Mr. Arrow told me to call you ma'am..or Captain..or Captain Amelia. Amelia is a pretty name by the way."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Well, how did you fit in those boots, ma'am?"  
  
"None of your business."  
  
"I see, well, I...I better get to cleaning again--"  
  
Amelia eyed her.  
  
"Ma'am!"  
  
"That'll do." she then walked away.  
  
Clarice slapped her good hand to her forehead. "Nice way to start out, you stupid head." she said to herself.  
  
Just then she saw a young man walk on deck. She looked at him closely.   
  
"That looks like the boy.....that was..no. It couldn't be. Too much coincidence." She then started mopping again.  
  
About a half hour later though, she saw the young man coming back from the kitchen. "I see he met Silver." During that time she was done with half the deck. And it was almost time for the launch. This time the young man walked across from her and looked at her. She stared into his blue eyes. She felt lost in those eyes, and almost forgot she was staring for a second. She then shook her head and said, "No, um, dude. No why did I do that?!" She then heard the launch was happening, so she hurried down to the kitchen where Silver was. Silver smiled and hugged her. "Good thing you came down lass! I need you to look out for a certain someone."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"His name is Jim Hawkins."   
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"He knows a bit too much about us. So you and Morphie will keep an eye out on him."  
  
Just then Morph turned into a large eye.  
  
She chuckled and said, "Mind if I talk with this..Jim Hawkins?"   
  
"Be my guest!"  
  
Clarice walked back up deck looking for the boy with blue eyes that Silver called "Jim Hawkins". When she finally saw him climbing the ropes, she said, "Hey! Um..JIM!"   
  
Jim turned around. "What?"  
  
"Can I talk with you for a second?"   
"Um, I guess."  
  
"Listen, looks like we'll be doing chores together. Is that all right?"  
  
Jim shrugged. "I guess."  
  
Just then the launch happened and they both fell. But then they were rose back up by no gravity. Clarice smiled a bit and said, "Well, that was strange."  
  
Jim then eyed Clarice's arm, not the good arm, but the robotic one.   
  
"No," he thought to himself. "this can't be the cyborg that the old man was warning me about...could it be? Nah, I saw a shadow of the man, she is skinnier than the one at the Benbow Inn."  
  
Clarice noticed him staring at her arm and said, "Ya, this hunk of metal. I know, it's strange. I take it you saw the cyborg downstairs in the kitchen?"  
  
"Ya, he seems..pretty nice."  
  
"He's like a father to me, ever since..my parents...well..let's not get too personal okay?"  
  
Jim looked at her and said, "Ya, sure. Don't you think you're obsession with Silver went a bit too far?"  
  
Clarice turned around, not wanting to think of what he said.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Well, he has a cyborg arm too. Don't you think getting one too is going a bit too far?"  
  
This confused Clarice. "Isn't this the boy who saw that incident with Hans, Silver, and I?" she thought to herself.  
  
"You should know better than to be saying that kind of stuff to complete strangers. You'll never know who you'll be messing with on ship."  
  
Jim laughed, "Suuure."  
  
She then grabbed him by the shirt with her robotic arm and lifted him up.  
  
"Think twice, bub."  
  
"What's going on here!?" said a familiar rocky voice.  
  
Clarice then lowered Jim.   
  
"I will not tolerate FIGHTS on this ship Clarice. Do you understand?"  
  
She looked down, "Yes sir."  
  
Mr. Arrow said, "Very good then." as he walked away.  
  
Clarice went to turn around, but noticed Jim wasn't there anymore, he was hanging around the roped rails.  
  
She then saw Silver come up to her and say, "You done mopping? Cause I left a mess in the kitchen that needs cleaning up." She said, "But shouldn't I do it?"  
  
"Nah, let Jim take care of it."  
  
She then laughed without saying a word, and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. 


	5. The Chat with Mr Arrow

Much to her dismay, Clarice noted to herself that Jim was more than just a pain in the ass. Clarice barely saw Silver anymore because of Jim, which made her angry.   
  
"What is it with Jim that Silver likes more than me?"  
  
One day though, as soon as she was done mopping, Mr. Arrow came behind her and did a little "ahem" to get her attention.   
  
"Anything else I need to do sir?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, the galley is a mess."  
  
"Better done than said sir" as she stifled in sobs.  
  
Mr. Arrow looked concerned though.   
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing...just....nothing."  
  
"But there HAS to be something up."   
  
"I'm just not enjoying this expedition as much as I want to."  
  
Mr. Arrow moved closer. "What's not to enjoy? We're on an adventure."  
  
"But I didn't think it'd be like this. Where I have to clean day after day and mess after   
mess. And to make it worse, that damn Jim Hawkins stole my Silver away from me!"  
  
"John Silver you mean?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Well, maybe you shouldn't be a but selfish and you'll get to see Silver again."  
  
"Me!? Selfish!?"  
  
"Yes..yes you are."  
  
"Oh great. First I have no friends on this ship and to make it worse, someone calls me selfish."   
  
"What is it that Silver has that you love so much?"  
  
She then stared down the ship and started sobbing.  
  
Mr. Arrow then moved next to her. "Did he do something bad?"  
  
She then wiped her nose. "No, not that. Just that...he took me in, instead of killing me like his former first mate killed my parents."   
  
Mr. Arrow said, "What a gentlemen. I'm very proud to know he did that."  
  
She then wiped her eyes with her robotic arm. "The man who killed my parents, made me lose this." As she pointed to her arm.  
  
Arrow eyed her arm and said, "Must have been a pain to get used to."   
  
She smiled. "After a year, you get used to it."  
  
Arrow chuckled. Clarice then said, "Tell me about yourself. What is 'Mister Arrow' all about?"  
  
He smiled and looked back at the captain's quarters. "I'm sure the captain won't mind me chatting with one of her crew members for a bit."  
  
He then started talking about his life that fascinated Clarice. He was from the rock planet Anitira where all the rock people lived. He talked about his now deceased wife and his children and grand-children. Clarice could tell by looking at Arrow that he lived a long adventurous life. He was a military brat from the day he was born.  
  
Clarice kept asking Mr. Arrow about himself. She wanted to know more and more about him. She also didn't want him to figure out what kind of person she and her father were. She was sure he was raised not to trust pirates.  
  
Before Arrow could finish, Captain Amelia called him over to talk about navigation. Mr. Arrow tipped his hat then to a now smiling Clarice and said, "I will talk to you later."   
  
With that, Clarice still sat down in the brisk air. She rubbed her arms and breathed hot air from her mouth to keep warm, when suddenly a large coat was placed on her. She looked up to see Silver. She smiled and hugged the man. She said, "Where have you been? I've missed you!" He smiled, "Just been keeping the boy busy, that's all."  
  
"Jim?"  
  
"Yep."   
"That's good...I guess."  
  
"What have you been doing?"  
  
"Nothing, just chatting with mister Arrow."  
  
"You didn't tell him that we were pirates did you?"  
  
"Heavens no!"  
  
"Oh..good. Say, did you hear Scroop tried to fight with Jim today?"  
  
"No.."  
  
"Well, I had to stop them of course, but Jim almost got his head cut off it looked like."  
  
She chuckled, "Serves him right. Calling me obsessive because of a measly cyborg arm." Silver chuckled, "Don't let this young lad get to ya. He has an attitude of his own, but he's a good lad."   
  
And with that, she was left with the coat as she saw Silver walk down the kitchen, whistling a happy tune. 


	6. Free Falling

 Clarice was deeply saddened. She was actually jealous of the little twerp Jim. All because Silver was paying more attention to him. She kept walking across the deck with her head hung low and her hands in her pockets. She stared at her robotic arm at that moment. She remembered that horrible night with Hans and Silver.   
"I lost an arm for Silver, and now I'm losing my only best friend in this world." She sighed as she kicked a heap of rope in her way. She couldn't handle these sad emotions like she used to. They made her feel even worse inside. She wished she could talk to Silver about it, but everytime she asked one of his mates where he was, they would always reply, "Probably with Jim." or "With Jim somewhere." It was ALWAYS Jim, Jim, Jim! She even tried looking for Silver herself, but had no luck with it. It made her fill with mixed emotions of sadness, anger, jealousy, etc.   
"Why did I even come on this expedition?" she asked herself. But then realized. "Oh...ya." and slapped her head for her stupidity. She suddenly gasped as she saw Morph circling her head and licking her face. She said, "Hello little tyke, how are ya?" Then he smiled and morphed into a thumbs up. She laughed and said, "That's great to know." She then thought for a moment and asked,   
"Do YOU know where Silver is?"   
Morph then morphed into Jim. She rolled her eyes and said, "Figures.." She then patted the little morph's head and said, "I'm going to the front of the ship and watch the stars, wanna come?" Morph then nodded and laid on her shoulder. When she walked to the front of the ship it was very peaceful. The stars were bright with greenish blue colors and a midnight sky. She looked ahead to see a bright purple-blue planet. She smiled to herself as she remembered those times she had with Silver. She remembered when Silver taught her how to cook well. She remembered how he always comforted her whenever she cried out of no where.   
And she did just that. But there was no Silver around to put his big arm around her. There was no one...not even a crew member. Suddenly she grabbed a tissue flying in midair and wiped her eyes with it. Then the tissue turned into Morph and he shook off the tears. She smiled and said, "I'm glad you're still with me Morphie. I really hate that Jim you know. He took away Silver." Suddenly there was a complete halt that took Clarice by surprise. She lost her balance and fell overboard, but grabbed the rail of the ship with her cyborg hand. She clinged on for dear life, trying to get herself up. Morph was trying to help her too, but with no luck. She said, "Morph! Get someone to help me please!" One finger slid off the railing.   
Morph suddenly flew away. Clarice's hopes were brought up little by little. Soon though a piece of wood splinted into human fingers. She started bleeding and let go. She cried, "Someone! Help me please!!!"   
Morph came back with someone. She said, "Who is it Morph?"   
Jim came and leaned down the railing and asked, "Are you all right!?" Her eyes widened. He then leaned down farther and put out his hand. He said, "Grab a hold!" She then tried to hold on with her bloody human hand, but it kept slipping off. So he grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her up. He said, "Push up with your other arm!" So she did. But slipped and grabbed a hold of his neck. With all of his might, Jim pulled her up and fell backwards, with her on top of him, safe and sound.   
They started trying to catch their breath. Clarice then realized she was on top of him and rolled off. She laid down. There was an awkward silence. Jim asked, "Are you all right?" She nodded slowly. Jim then noticed her bloody hand. He said, "Here, let me wipe that off for you." He then took her hand gently and started wiping off the blood. She noticed his arm was full of her blood too. She said quietly, "I'm really sorry." He then replied, "Not a problem. Though my neck does hurt a bit." He then started rubbing it with his free hand. She looked down.   
She asked, "So where's Silver?" Jim replied, "He gave me chores to do, so he's taking a nap." She then nodded. He looked at her face and noticed a few tears running down her cheek and her eyes were puffy. He said, "Hey, it's all right, you're okay now." She then said, "I know, but it's not that. I...I..." She then started crying again. He then put his free arm around her and held her close. He asked, "What's wrong?" She then felt horrible about hating him and saying the negative remarks about him before. She nuzzled against his shirt and cried some more. He continued, "I hope you know I'm not the best person who gives sympathy." She said, "It's all right.." But Jim was still dumbfounded of why she was crying. All he did was hold her closer and still wiped the blood off of her hand. He then took the bloody hankerchief and wiped her face with it with the dry spots. After an awkward silence, she said, "Thank you so much.." He replied, "Not a problem, considering you're Silver's daughter and all." She sat still. Jim replied, "Ya, I know a lot about you." She sighed and said, "I know nothing about you though. I never get to see Silver anymore." He said, "I'm really sorry. It's not my fault...the captain ordered Silver to watch over me." She sighed and said, "Oh.."   
Suddenly Silver walked up behind Jim. He said, "I see your being a lazy bum and not doing as I asked!" He then looked farther and asked, "What are you doing?!" Clarice looked up. Silver's mean look turned into shock. Silver asked, "What's wrong lass?" Jim replied for her though. "She almost fell overboard." Clarice then looked at Jim's shirt. It was full of snot and tears. She said, "I'm so sorry Jim." He replied with a laugh, "Quit apologizing, it's starting to annoy me." She chuckled and said, "I'm s--..all right." He then smiled and held her closer. A funny feeling was over-whelming him. Silver then cleared his throat and said, "This is a very touching moment, but Jim, you have to do some work." Jim replied, "All right.." Silver then said, "I'll take care of Clar, Jim. No need to worry." Silver then bent over and picked up Clarice and said, "Come on lass, let's go." And walked away with her.   
Jim sat there, still curious as to why she was crying so much. He didn't think that almost going overboard would take such an impact on her. "There must be more to it." Jim said.   
"But what?"   
Silver set Clarice on the bed. She brushed away her hair and took a deep breath. Silver knelt down. He asked, "What's wrong?" She wiped her nose and said, "Nothing, I'm just..shocked that's all." Silver replied, "It's okay. At least you didn't fall overboard." She nodded and gasped at the pain in her hand. Silver smiled, grabbed some bandages, and wrapped a bandage around her hand. As Silver did this, he sensed there was more to the story. He took his robotic arm and gently touched her chin and left her head up. He said, "Look at me Clar." She shook her head and brushed his hand away. He then used his human hand to hold her chin. She said, "Please stop." He replied, "Not until you look at me." She looked at him. His big brown eye and cyborg eye looking straight into her own. She felt like he was exploring her soul. The thought kind of scared her. He said, "Now, tell me what's really wrong."   
She hesitated for a moment. But then said, "I was just saved by..by..." Then Morph who was hiding behind Silver flew to Clarice's shoulder, turned into her, and imitated her saying, "I really hate that Jim you know. He took away Silver!" She bulged her eyes. Silver chuckled and said, "Is that true Clar?" She shrugged. Morph then chuckled. She groaned and hung her head low. Silver smiled and said, "You know no one can ever take me away from you."   
She looked up and said, "But you keep spending time with Jim. What about me? You KNOW I feel weird being around this crew, no matter how long I've known them." Silver rolled his eyes. He replied, "Lass, you need to learn to not be selfish sometimes." She nodded her head slowly. Silver replied, "If you spent some time with the lad, you'd know he's not all that bad." She replied, "Am I allowed to though? Scroop told me to stay away from him." Silver chuckled and said, "Never listen to Scroop. He's bad news you know. How about tomorrow I assign you both to work on the same things. Does that sound like a plan?" She nodded and said, "All right." Silver replied, "Good! Now go get some shut-eye. Will ya?" He then hugged her.   
But at the top of the deck, Jim was listening to every word. "Figures much that she would hate me." So he leaned against a rail, deeply sighing. "Dad did, and now a gorgeous woman does." He then sniffed. "Dad..." he then sat down and started crying, remembering how Leland abandoned him. Now it seemed he was jealous of Clarice for having someone like Silver be a father to them. 


	7. Jim and Arrow

Clarice heard a loud CLANK! that woke her up immedietly. She thought maybe she over-slept, so she got out of her hammock, but she looked up the holes in the ceiling and noticed it was still night time and everyone was sound asleep. She then rubbed her eyes, cursed under her breath, and laid back down. Soon after was another CLANK! sound. This time she was so mad at being woken up she grabbed her jacket and ran up to the deck. She looked to her left and noticed nobody was there, but as she looked to her right, she noticed a certain Jim Hawkins throwing rocks against the metal part of the ship. This made her furious! She then yelled, "Keep it down will ya!?"   
But Jim ignored her.   
She twitched her nose then and stomped over to Jim. She grabbed his shoulder and made him turn to face her. She then said, "What's the big idea!?" But soon her anger turned into shock, as she saw tears forming in Jim's eyes. She let go of his shoulder quickly and asked, "What happened to you?" He gave her a cold look though and turned away from her, which of course made Clarice angry again.   
She went to face him and said, "Look, you have no choice now. What is wrong?" He still gave her the cold shoulder and said, "Forget it, will ya!?" which shocked her to hear that tone of voice. She shook her head and said, "Look, I consider you a friend, even with the stunt you pulled before when you commented on my arm!" Jim then laughed. "Friend? Friends with a GIRL?!" Clarice then crossed her arms as he continued.   
"Friends with someone who choked me early on for making a COMMENT about her arm?!"   
Clarice interrupted, "I don't think 'Don't you think you're obsessing over Silver by getting a cyborg arm.' is the right thing to say to someone like me!"   
Jim continued, "Friends with someone with a HUGE anger problem?! Someone who is stubborn at times?! Someone who still treats someone like crap even AFTER they saved them!?"   
Clarice un-crossed her arms and said, "You're right! Who was I to think that I could be friends with someone who keeps things to themselves. Someone who stole my only friend away from me! You know, I was right about you. I thought maybe I could find a new friend in someone that wasn't bad like Silver's friends, but you're WORSE than them!"   
Jim rolled up his sleeves and turned to face her, "Wanna start this right now!?"   
Clarice threw her jacket off and transformed her cyborg arm into a sword, "Didn't your mom ever tell you to NEVER hit a lady?!" she yelled.   
Jim then smiled, "I wouldn't exactly call this freak a lady!"   
Clarice grinded her teeth, "Didn't your DAD ever tell you to choose your fights more carefully?!"   
Jim's angered face suddenly looked shocked as he had a flash back of his dad. This one consisted of him trying to reach the cabinet for a cup. When the young boy turned around he saw his father coming his way, and young Jim was happy that his father was going to get him a cup. So he stopped reaching and looked up at his father as he was getting a cup. And when Leland did get the cup, he didn't hand it to his son, he instead went across the floor and poured water in it, sat down, and started eating his dinner.   
Suddenly there was a faint sound calling his name...jim....Jim...Jim?   
"JIM!!!" Clarice screamed. Jim shook his head and stared at her. He had more tears in his eyes this time and he was frowning. Clarice rose an eyebrow at him. Jim said, "Go ahead, beat me to a grind. See if I care." he then walked away from her. Clarice transformed her sword back into a regular cyborg hand and followed him. This time there was a look of concern in her face. She said, "I take it you're not comfortable talking about 'dads' right?" Jim turned around with a sad and angry look on his face this time. She took a step back, keeping the distance between them. She then rubbed the back of her head as she sighed and said, "I'm really sorry if I hit ya below the belt, Jim." He looked up at her and said, "Don't say it if you don't mean it." he then turned and walked away. Clarice looked down and said quietly, "At least you had a father. I never did." Jim then stopped. He turned around and yelled, "What? Now I'm supposed to feel SORRY for you!?" Clarice looked up and said, "Shut up. I'm not asking for sorrow, but just like you, I never had a father to look up to." Jim then said, "But mine is going to come back, you'll see!" Clarice said, "Good luck to you then! Because mine is NEVER coming back! My dad, PLUS my mother, were killed by a pirate who caused this..." as she pointed to her cyborg arm. "THIS I tell you! Do you think you're the only one in this world without these kind of problems!?" Jim took a step further as he said calmly, "I'm sorry..I..I never knew." Clarice then turned around, sobbing and trying to talk. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be like this. But it's true. I just wish I had someone to talk to about it. Silver always changes the subject." She then leaned against the railing. Jim walked closer to her. He rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Wow, I guess we're both in the same situation." She nodded.   
He then leaned against the rail next to her. There was an awkward silence between them. Jim sighed as he said, "I know my father is never coming back." Clarice nodded. "We both know that, Jim." He then started crying again. Clarice said, "Look, from what I know, your father is stupid, but right to leave you behind." Jim looked at her, "What!?" Clarice said, "Think about it. Your mother has been practically raising you since you were born, and let me say, she's done a wonderful job!" Jim said, "Thanks, but what about my father?" Clarice continued, "If your father raised you to be like him, you would be an immature jerk just like him. Walking away from the things that are most important in life. And Jim, if you were like that you would be DEAD right now, because I wouldn't tolerate it." Jim looked down the ship. Clarice continued, "I know it may take awhile for you to know, but hey, it's the damn truth. You were probably raised better than me." Jim then looked at her.   
She was crying.  
He put an arm around her as she was crying some more. He said, "Look, knowing Silver, since he has raised you, I think you turned out all right...for a girl."   
Clarice chuckled, "Jim, let me tell you that my prayers will be with your future wife." She then playfully pushed him...but a bit too hard. He landed on his behind on the deck. She then kneeled down and asked, "Jim, was that why you were making loud clanking noises and crying...cause of your dad?" Jim nodded slowly. She then hugged him with her good arm and said, "He'll regret missing those wonderful moments that your mother witnessed. And when he realizes that, he's going to beat himself and go crazy and eventually end up in an insane asylum." Jim laughed a bit. Clarice stopped hugging him and said, "Well it's true! Someday he's going to realize what a jerk he was to leave a great person like you behind!" Jim chuckled and said, "Thank you Clar...thank you." He then leaned over and hugged her.   
Clarice coughed and said quietly, "Come on, let's go back down and sleep. It's almost time for everyone to wake up and people will start talking if we don't go down." Jim stopped hugging her and said, "All right." She then stood up and was about to walk, but then turned around and extended her cyborg hand. Jim smiled and took a hold of her hand and stood up with her, but didn't let go of her hand. She smiled warmly and was about to say something when they were interruped by a familiar loud voice.   
"What are you two doing up so early!?" Silver questioned.   
Both looked at each other and started talking at the same time, but Silver waved his arms and yelled, "Hold it! Now...Jim, since you're already up, why don't you come with me."   
Clarice sighed and let go of Jim's hand.   
But Jim remembered her screaming at him just several minutes ago.   
"Someone who stole my only friend away from me!"   
Jim gulped and asked, "Mister Silver?" to with the big cyborg turned around. He then looked at Clarice and back at Silver.   
"Can she come?"   
Silver then eyed her and said, "It's not my decision to make, it's hers." Silver then smiled warmly at the two. Clarice was about to say something, when Mr. Arrow approached them both. Mr. Arrow said, "Gentlemen, if you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with Clarice by myself." Jim said, "Aye aye sir!" and Silver looked at Arrow saying, "Make sure she doesn't get into any trouble!"   
Mr. Arrow eyed Clarice. She looked up and said, "What did I do, Mr. Arrow?" He then said, "Nothing, but I need to ask you something."   
Clarice listened carefully to the words Arrow would regret saying.   
"Why are you hanging out with Silver and his crew? Before you know it you'll end up like their pathetic selves and might be thrown in jail soon enough!"   
Clarice was shocked! And also very mad at Arrow for saying those words!   
"So this is how it's going to be." Clarice said as she looked at Arrow cold in the eyes.   
"Just because I hang out with a bunch of scalawags like Silver, you immediately think I'm bad news..am I correct!?"   
Arrow was shocked to hear her say that. Never in his mind did he find her bad news. Clarice sighed as she was leaning against the rail of the ship. He took a step closer and noticed she was crying. He then held her shoulder with his hand and said quietly,   
"You're not correct Miss Clarice."   
She then looked up and wiped her eyes trying to show that she was still a tough woman, but she knew Arrow knew better than that. Arrow continued. "We may not have a lot in common miss, but let me tell you, I grew fond of you since I heard more about you." She shrugged her shoulders to make him let go of her. He said, "Why can't you trust me and tell me what's on your mind?" She wiped her eyes with her shirt, but Arrow pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes with it. She finally said, "Because the only man I've ever trusted was Silver. And I only told Jim cause we shared the same problems, except his parents aren't....aren't..." she then started crying again and sunk her head in Mr. Arrow's chest, hurting her head because it wasn't a soft chest like Silver's, obviously because Mr. Arrow was a rock man. Arrow then put his arms gently around her and held her closer. He patted her lightly and quietly said, "There, there my dear." She then put her arms around his chest and hugged him. She sighed and said quietly, "I'm so sorry."   
He then chuckled. "It's okay miss, it's okay." and held her closer.   
But suddenly, a heavy wind was felt, and the explosion of the star Pellucid suddenly blew up as Arrow and Clarice hugged each other! The fall caused Arrow to land on top of her, crushing her. He got up quickly, and pulled Clarice up just as Captain Amelia was giving orders, but she was aching. He said, "I'm so sorry!" as she was holding her chest. Amelia, was heard again, calling for Mr. Arrow. He deeply sighed and said, "Promise me you won't wander off, all right?! We need to talk later!" He then turned around and yelled to the crew, "All hands, fasten your lifelines!" Amelia then turned to Arrow and ordered him to secure the sails. Mr. Arrow, before-hand, threw a rope at Clarice and said, "Tie yourself good and tight lass!" he then turned around to the people on the sails, "Secure all sails..break em down, men!"   
Clarice ran to where the lines were secured and tied her line up. She then ran and climbed up the sails to help secure them. The pain in her chest was agonizing, but she didn't want this crew to be lost in the supernova! Mr. Arrow looked up at Clarice and yelled, "Are the lines secured?" She then saluted him while Oxy, Birdbrain Mary, and Moron climbed down. Arrow turned to the captain, "All sails secured Captain!". Amelia with a wild look in her eyes said, "Good man, now...release them immediately!" Clarice heard her all right. She then rose an eyebrow and stared down at Arrow who said, "Aye Captain. You heard her men, UNFURL those sails!!". Clarice eyed Silver's crew.   
Birdbrain Mary screeched, "WHAT!?"   
Oxy looked questionably at the captain, "But we just finished..." and Moron finished for him, "Tying them down!" Then Birdbrain Mary rolled her eyes and yelled, "Make up your bloomin' mind!". Then Mr. Arrow climbed up the rope to open the sails again. He smiled as he saw Clarice hard at work. He looked over and yelled, "Are you doing all right my dear!?" She then smiled broadly and yelled back, "Aye aye sir!" as she saluted again. She then looked down and saw Silver and Jim running across the deck. Silver glanced up at the sails then looked down; but realized that Clarice was up there, and stopped. He then heard the captain giving Jim orders, thinking that he could ignore Jim for a moment, and looked up at Clarice and yelled, "You all right lass?!" She then smiled, still focusing on opening the sails, and said, "Yes Silver!" He then yelled, "Get down here, I don't want to lose you!" And as she unfurled the last line, she got up and started climbing down the ladder, but a loud explosion was heard that vibrated the ship. Clarice closed her eyes and clutched tight, but then heard a loud scream coming from Arrow!   
Clarice looked up and shrieked. Arrow had lost grip of the rail and was almost flying, with a rope wrapped around his waist. She then yelled, "Don't worry Arrow! I'm coming!" Quickly...she climbed back up, but to her amazement, Scroop, the spider like alien, was there! She thought maybe Scroop was going to help the first mate. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes and started climbing down.   
Clarice suddenly heard another scream coming from Arrow! She opened her eyes quickly to see Arrow flying farther and farther away from the ship. She shook her head in dis-belief. She didn't breathe or speak for many moments.   
When Arrow's screams weren't heard anymore, she looked up at Scroop who was laughing sinister-like! She then jumped up and screamed, "YOU SON OF A WENCH!!!" And transformed her cyborg arm into a sword. Scroop faced her and stared at her for a few moments. He then laughed and quietly said,   
"You think a girl like you can take on the likes of me?"   
With that she replied,   
"Of course not. But I know Silver can..and he will once I tell him!"   
She then jumped off the pole, but Scroop swiftly grabbed her shirt with his right claw and held her up. He then took his other claw and held her by the neck. He then frowned and whispered in her ear, "We'll see about that..." and then swiftly climbed down and ran across the desk. He then looked at the life-lines and saw the loose one that held the now deceased Mr. Arrow. He grabbed it, and ran quickly down to the lower deck so fast that no one noticed!   
When he arrived, he threw Clarice down. She then held her cyborg sword to his throat and screamed, "Stay back, or I WILL kill you!" But Scroop laughed again and said, "Didn't Silver ever teach you well?" He then took his claws and cut off the wires in her cyborg arm, which made her sword fall back in place like a Swiss army knife. He then took a cloth and gagged her tightly so no one can hear her scream. He then grabbed the rope that secured Mr. Arrow and tied her up with it, against a wide pole. When he was finished, she was screaming and trying to get loose. He then bent down and stared at her, saying  
"With the cabin boy here, Silver won't even notice that you're gone, little orphan." And then walked back up on the deck.   
As soon as he slammed the doors and locked it, she looked up at the cube holes in the ceiling and heard Dr. Doppler, a canine doctor, scream, "Captain, the last wave..here it comes!" To which Amelia screamed to the crew, "Hold on to your lifelines gents, it's going to be a bumpy ride!"   
As the Supernova exploded, the ship flew fast and away from the blast! Silver held Jim against a pole so he would not be hurt, completely forgetting about Clarice, and not realizing that she was tied to a different pole trying to scream for help through her gag. Tears were forming in Clarice's eyes and running down her cheeks like two rivers. The thought that Mr. Arrow was now dead, all because of the damn Scroop, was fixated in her mind. She tried to remember the good times with him, but it made her worse. He was like another father to her and because of him, she wasn't as upset that she didn't have Silver. What made her feel worse was that Mr. Arrow was a grandfather back where he came from on the planet Anitira to two grandkids. One a girl named Susan, and the other a boy named Rupert.   
"How are they going to handle that their grandfather is gone?" she thought.  
She then had the image of Arrow falling down the black hole in her mind and she shut her eyes tight trying to think of something else, but then she heard Scroop hissing a bit. Very faintly she heard the captain said, "All hands accounted for, Mister Arrow?"   
But the crew didn't realize that Arrow was lost in space. Then the captain said again,   
"Mister Arrow?"   
Clarice then saw Scroop walking towards the captain saying, "I'm afraid...Mister Arrow has been lost." He then turned around.   
"His lifelines were not secure..."   
Clarice bulged her eyes and tried screaming, but no one could hear her. She knew Jim was in charge of the life-lines. "But it's not his fault!" She thought to herself.   
"It was NEVER his fault! It was SCROOP'S FAULT! Oh God, HELP ME PLEASE!!!"   
Clarice then could hear Jim yelling saying he checked them all. There was a dead silence. Clarice then heard Amelia say kind words about her first mate.   
"Mister Arrow was an..." she then coughed and continued. "...a fine spacer...finer than most of us, could ever hope to be. But he...knew the risks as do we all."   
Amelia tried not to cry in front of her crew, and ended saying,   
"Resume your posts; we carry on..."   
Suddenly Clarice saw the door open and Scroop walking down. She looked up very teary eyed. He held something black in his hand. She then rose an eyebrow and said muffled, "What are you going to--" but before she could finish, she was knocked upside the head and fell unconscious for who knows how long.   
Scroop looked down at her and said, "That oughta keep you quiet." and walked back up the deck, as if nothing had ever happened. 


	8. A Touching Good Bye

Clarice woke up in time to look above the deck and see Silver and Jim putting together what looked like...a solar surfer? She bulged her eyes and started screaming, trying to get the two men's attention! Jim stopped making the surfer and said, "Silver? Do you hear that?" Silver replied, "Who cares! Just get going, get us out of here!" Jim then jumped on the surfer and looked down to see a teary eyed Clarice. "Go help Clarice down there. And make sure the boat is heading for the portal!"   
And with that, he jumped on the surfer, turned it on, and flew off.   
Silver stood there dumbfounded, until he heard Clarice's muffled screamings below him. He gasped and said, "Hold on Clarice!" and then looked at the captain. "You heard the lad! Get this blasted heap TURNED AROUND!" he then ran down below deck to where Clarice was. He ran over, transformed his arm to a sword, and cut her ropes off. She held her robotic arm as soon as it was freed. She started choking in sobs as Silver was cutting her foot ropes off. As soon as Silver was done, he put his arms around her and held her close. Brushing her hair with his fingers. He said, "Clar, who did this?"   
"...Scroop"   
"Well, he's gone now..."   
She nodded slowly, "I could hear him screaming, and it was faint."   
Silver held her closer. "And Clar, this old scallywag might be going to jail...so I'm going to plan an escape."   
Clarice looked up at him. "You mean?" Silver then nodded. "But I've been doing some thinking..I don't want you to go to jail. And remember, you're now seventeen. So you have two choices. Come with me, and we'll escape together..or...or.." he then started sniffling.   
"Find a new life in this Montressor place."   
Clarice gasped a bit and held her mouth. Silver then noticed her cyborg arm laying there. "What happened?" Silver asked, as he was examining her. He then noticed the wires and said, "But these wires are supposed to be tough!" Clarice's robot arm laid there, limp and dead as a door knob. "Scroop cut the wires." Silver then cursed under his breath. Clarice looked up to see many objects of blocks flying about, and lots of fire. She squirmed back to Silver and cuddled in his arms.   
"It hurts.." Clarice murmured. "My cyborg arm is hurting me." Silver kissed the top of her head and said, "It'll be all right. Just hang in there." Clarice then looked up and said, "And I don't want to go to jail."   
Silver looked into her eyes then. Those deep blue eyes that you would feel lost in. He remembered those very eyes of when he first met her as a child. He couldn't help but have a tear run down his cheek. Silver, wishfully was thinking, "Maybe she wants to run off with me." But he knew better than that.   
"Do you want to grab a long boat and get out, Clarice?" was his question.   
There was silence.   
"Well?" asked Silver. Clarice stared deep into his cyborg and green eye. "I don't want to be caught and brought to jail, Silver." He nodded slowly. "I think it be better if you stay with one of the good people..like the doctor..or the captain..or even..."   
"...Jim" she said, interrupting. Silver said, shakingly, "Ya...Jim. His mother owns an inn you know, so it's not a bad idea." Clarice looked down sadly, brushing back a strand of hair behind her ear.   
"Do you think he'd mind?" she asked.   
Silver said, "Whatever makes you happy, my dear." he said. "I'm so proud of you, you know that?" She looked up, "Really?" she asked.   
"You know damn well I am. Through those years when your hair was cut. The day you lost your left arm. And you must have been brave when Scroop tied you up and heaven only knows what he did to you." She frowned and asked, "Was Mr. Arrow ever found by the way?"   
Silver looked away and said, "No, he's long gone now."   
Clarice wiped her eyes. "Jim didn't do it though...Scroop did."   
"Scroop did." Silver said at the same time. "Yes, I know. But you should tell the captain that. All right?" She nodded. "I will."   
Soon there was quiet. Clarice and Silver could hear brief chatterings between the captain and doctor   
Their worst fears were over..they made it through the portal alive...but did Jim? Silver said, "Well bushel britches, if you're going to stay in Montressor, this is my time to escape with little Morphy." She deeply sighed. "One last time Clar, you sure you don't wanna come along?" She smiled and said, "No, I think I need to spend some time on my own. But if you're ever in Montressor..look me up." Silver stood up, "Come here you." as he took his good arm and tightly hugged Clarice, who hugged back.   
"I love you...dad." Clarice said, crying a bit.   
"I love you too, my little girl." Silver said while choking up tears. "I'm so glad I'm finally called 'dad' by you." as he kissed the top of her head.   
Clarice suddenly realized, "Where's Jim!?" Silver said, "No...he has to be up there!" They both stopped hugging and ran up. Clarice faced one way while Silver faced the other way. Silver spotted Jim and said, "Clarice! There he is!" He then waved, "You did it lad!" Jim then flew down and high fived Silver's hand.   
"Didn't I say the lad had greatness in him?!"   
Clarice waved her arms about. When Jim landed, she ran up to him and hugged him with her good arm. "I'm so glad you're back Jim!" and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Which made Jim and she blush. Jim said, "I..uh...thank you." and scratched the back of his neck. Clarice rubbed her shoulder and said, "Not..a...not a problem." she then walked off. Clarice noticed a little robot that was hugging Jim. She cocked an eyebrow and smirked a bit. Amelia walked over to Clarice. "I notice you have a little limp in that chunk of metal you have." Clarice sighed. "Yes captain, Scroop tore off the wires." She smiled and said, "Metal man! Do you think you can fix this?" B.E.N. walked over and examined it. Fixating his eyes to the wires. "I think I can captain, just let me try something real quick!" He then grabbed some duct tape from his chest, connected the wires together, and duct taped them together. Soon Clarice's arm was working fine for a bit. B.E.N. smiled and said, "Hey, if you come with my buddy Jimmy and I, we'll find someone to fix it. Is that okay Jimmy!?...Jim?" They looked about and noticed he wasn't around. The captain shrugged. "I'm sure it's nothing Clarice. Maybe the doctor will help you out with the arm." Clarice smiled and said, "I would appreciate that ma'am." As she curtsied.   
Soon, Jim came back up and knocked into Clarice. She turned around and said, "Oh..hello." She noticed Morph was around him. "So Silver didn't want to take him?" Jim said, "Nah, he wants Morph to look out for me." She chuckled a bit. Jim smiled and said, "So, Silver tells me you want to stay in Montressor." She nodded. Jim smiled and said, "Do you want to stay with us? My mother owns an inn and all, so it wouldn't be any trouble." She smiled and hugged him. "Thank you Jim, it means the world to me." Amelia started speaking in the monitor. "Prepared for landing in Montressor, over."   
"Permission to land, over."   
Jim said, "Well. gather your stuff. I'm sure mom is ready to meet us." She smiled and said, "All right, Jim." B.E.N. soon came with a small blanket and wrapped her cybernetic arm around and tied it around her neck. Clarice said, "What is this for?" B.E.N. smiled and said, "So you won't drag it around, ya silly!" She then hugged B.E.N. with her good arm and said, "Thank you!" B.E.N. hugged back. "Oh! This one likes to be touched! Hooray!"   
As soon as they docked, Jim walked off the deck with Clarice behind him. She held his arm and said, "It's a big crowd, please don't leave me." He then held her hand and said, "There's my mom there. Don't worry." He then ran over, and tapped Sarah Hawkins on the shoulder. When she turned around, he hugged her tight.   
"I missed you mom."   
"I missed you too, son." When they let go, Clarice walked over with Morph. Morph cozied up to Sarah Hawkins. Jim said, "Mom, this is Clarice Silver, Clarice, this is Sarah Hawkins, my mom." Clarice extended her good hand and said, "Please to meet you, ma'am." Sarah replied, "Same to you, but what happened to your arm?" as she eyed the cybernetic one. Clarice held it and said, "It's a long story."   
Jim smiled at both of them and said to his mother, "Is it okay if she stays with us, once the Benbow Inn is fixed?"   
Sarah crossed her arms playfully. "I don't know...what do you do?"   
Clarice stood proudly and said, "I clean and cook."   
Sarah laughed, "A new cook and cleaner is what we need for the Benbow Inn." She then hugged Clarice and said, "Welcome to our new family." 


End file.
